Castro Converts

Starlin Castro hits a home run over the centerfield fence to break up Jake Odorizzi‘s no-hitter and give the Yankees a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning. Odorizzi issued his first walk of the game just before the impressive shot by Castro. That gives Castro seven homers on the season.

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Finch on the Perch

The Bridgeport Bluefish hired Jennie Finch to manage for one day, making her the first woman to manage a professional men’s baseball team. Good friend Jim Storer is there and sends this photo of Finch throwing out the first pitch:

Jennie Finch throws out the first pitch in Bridgeport, Ct.

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A Perfect Odor is in the Air

Jake Odorizzi just completed five perfect innings against the Yankees. One third of the 15 batters against him went down on strikes. Odorizzi is in a good pitching duel with Nathan Eovaldi, who allowed one run through four innings. He allowed three hits and one walk while striking out five.

Odorizzi came into the game with a .243 batting average allowed.

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An Introduction from the new guy!

Hello!

My name is Dan, and I recently joined the team.

I have been a hobbyist (old GW term!) for nigh on 30 years. In that time I've collected everything from Space Marines, to Elves, Daemons and modern-era models. Like everyone else, my painting right at the start wasn't anything spectacular. I never primed a model (at 11 years old you have neither the funds or the know-how) and my paint was always really thick. But at that age it was the most awesome paint job ever!

After around 5 years of painting off and on (though gaming throughout) I was inspired by a friend of mine called Nick Thorburn.  He used a rather unique 'Extreme Highlighting' method, with really deep dark shadow tones and bright highlights. No blending, just blocks of colour laid over each other.  I practiced this technique until I was happy with the results, and could churn out models like nobody's business! Combine that with the old GW Inks (those older painters out there will remember Chestnut and Brown Ink no doubt) that had a glossy finish to them. These inks really made my models pop, and meant I could work even faster.

In later years I tried blending, which is something I'm still not particularly good at (room for improvement perhaps? Yes, always!) But the later GW paints didn't give me the effects I craved, and my painting technique changed once again.  It's safe to say that my current painting style is what you'd call circa 2001 GW style. I once painted a Beastman Shaggoth (still got it somewhere, I'll dig it out and take a picture) that was almost identical to the one on the box.

I had two stints at GW Carlisle (and 6 months in Dumfries before going back and running Carlisle right as 4th Edition 40K was released and the Storm of Chaos Summer Campaign was in full swing) and I really got into painting models as they are on the box. What better advert for a model than an almost identical copy in your store, right? Teaching people to paint was always a passion of mine, and still is, hence one of the reasons to join this group. I will be stepping outside of my comfort zone and trying a host of new techniques including blending, NMM, airbrushing, and whatever else I think will help me step up my game!

So, what do I like to paint? I'm a huge fan of Fantasy models, as in swords and sorcery.  I have a rather "small" undertaking that I will be sharing with you over the coming months. I have recently acquired a copy of Milton Bradley's Heroquest, and a copy of GW's Advanced Heroquest.  Combine these with Warhammer Quest and WHQ Silver Tower, and you have the history of these dungeon crawlers, painted week by week for your enjoyment.  Oh! And all the Dungeon Saga games and expansions too. You could say I like dungeon crawler games.

I also have a number of other painting projects to throw into the mix: Batman Joker Crew, Wrath of Kings Honor & Treachery Starter Box, Gentleman's Club (from Empire of the Dead) and my ever growing Trollblood army for Hordes.  I have recently backed the amazing Dark Souls Kickstarter and the Super Dungeon Explore Legends Kickstarter as well, which I may put paint to model at some point.  There is a full Maki Rolljordan Chaos Bloodbowl team en-route (working team name Lords of Pleasure) and a copy of Sedition Wars to go through too. A number of these are large projects, but I will post some odd models that I fancy painting from time to time, and may even do the odd request or two!

I look forward to getting your feedback on my projects, and I hope to share some knowledge along the way!

Cheers,

Dan

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Games of the Day

The Yankees and Rays feature two similar pitchers Sunday afternoon, Nathan Eovaldi and Jake Odorizzi. Both sport good strikeout and walk numbers, but are undone by home runs allowed. Despite their low walk numbers, they each allowed three homers with men on base, or six out of 15.

Michael Wacha tries to hang the first loss of the season on Stephen Strasburg as the Cardinals and Nationals conclude their series. Wacha owns a high ERA. While he is walking more batters than usual, he is getting hammered when men reach base. Opponents hit .358/.432/.544 in that situation, the power numbers indicate men are scoring from first base. Strasburg owns a reverse platoon split this season, with left-handed batters hitting .177/.244/.248 against him. For his career, Strasburg does as well against LHB as he does against RHB.

Chris Sale makes his second attempt at winning 10 games in two months as the White Sox face Edinson Volques and the Royals. Sale is still perfect on the road, 5-0 in five starts with a 1.41 ERA. Volquez pitches much better at home this season, with a 2.06 ERA in KC versus a 6.55 ERA on the road.

Finally, Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers play the rubber game of their series against the Mets, Bartolo Colon standing in opposition. Kershaw is very close to being the best pitcher ever, but I’m wondering if he can win 300 games? In his seven full season in the majors, he’s averaging 15.5 wins per year. At that pace, he’ll need over another 11.5 seasons to get there. He’s seasonal age 28, so it’s possible, but it would be good if Kershaw could win another 50 to 55 games by the end of his age 30 season. At this point, I would not be surprised in Colon lasted another five years and gets to 300 wins.

Enjoy!

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Beat the Streak Picks

Here are the top picks my program produced for use in Beat the Streak. This post mostly explains the ideas behind the calculations. First, the log5 list:

0.351 — Daniel Murphy batting against Michael Wacha
0.344 — Danny Valencia batting against Mike Pelfrey
0.340 — Josh Reddick batting against Mike Pelfrey
0.326 — Billy Burns batting against Mike Pelfrey
0.322 — Robinson Cano batting against Ricky Nolasco
0.320 — Jed Lowrie batting against Mike Pelfrey
0.312 — Josh Phegley batting against Mike Pelfrey
0.305 — Xander Bogaerts batting against R.A. Dickey
0.304 — Stephen Vogt batting against Mike Pelfrey
0.304 — Buster Posey batting against Christopher Rusin

Now, the Neural Network (NN) list:

0.304, 0.759 — Buster Posey batting against Christopher Rusin.
0.287, 0.750 — Jose Altuve batting against Nicholas Tropeano.
0.322, 0.749 — Robinson Cano batting against Ricky Nolasco.
0.289, 0.744 — Joe Panik batting against Christopher Rusin.
0.291, 0.743 — Matt Duffy batting against Christopher Rusin.
0.344, 0.742 — Danny Valencia batting against Mike Pelfrey.
0.326, 0.740 — Billy Burns batting against Mike Pelfrey.
0.272, 0.739 — Josh Harrison batting against Martin Perez.
0.284, 0.737 — Denard Span batting against Christopher Rusin.
0.279, 0.736 — Howie Kendrick batting against Bartolo Colon.
0.351, 0.735 — Daniel Murphy batting against Michael Wacha.

The log5 method I’m using does not like Mike Pelfry. The NN method doesn’t like Chris Rusin.

I publish these lists as a guide, a way to point you in the right direction. Rusin was on the list yesterday, then the Rockies pushed him back a day. Catchers, like Buster Posey, get lots of days off. I don’t have the disabled list memorized, so someone might pop up who is hurt. Good luck!

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Sunday Update

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

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